


Second Chances

by chai_and_coffee



Series: Shallura Week 2018 [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Allura (Voltron), F/M, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Pansexual Shiro (Voltron), Shallura Week 2018, Soft Kisses, fluffy cuteness, slight angst, two dorks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-12 23:01:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16005107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chai_and_coffee/pseuds/chai_and_coffee
Summary: She’s always the first thing he sees.She was there when when he had those flashbacks, back on that Galra ship, crouching down in the hallways. Her worried voice was the first thing to bring him back to reality, and her face was the first thing that came into focus.Of course, he almost hadn’t recognized her, considering the fact that she had been…well, purple, and had looked like a Galra soldier. But it had been her, blue eyes sparkling behind the visor.Written for the first|last prompt for Shallura Week 2018!





	Second Chances

She’s always the **_first_** thing he sees. 

 

She was there when when he had those flashbacks, back on that Galra ship, crouching down in the hallways. Her worried voice was the first thing to bring him back to reality, and her face was the first thing that came into focus. 

 

Of course, he almost hadn’t recognized her, considering the fact that she had been…well, purple, and had looked like a Galra soldier. But it had been her, blue eyes sparkling behind the visor. 

 

She was the first thing he saw on the astral plane as well. She had been there, glowing in a purple hue, her lips curling into that same smile that she had had when she had thrown him away from getting captured. 

 

She hadn’t said anything, at all. She had simply extended her hand out to him. And he had taken it, without a second of hesitation. 

 

And then he had been in her, feeling the hurt cascade in her after Lotor’s betrayal, the overwhelming sense of relief at finding him, everything. It made him feel selfish—because he hadn’t realized how much of the weight rested on her shoulders as well. 

 

Come to think of it, no one really noticed. 

 

She was the first thing he saw when opening his eyes after getting the new arm as well. He remembered her expression well, furrowed eyebrows, a sense of relief on her face, as well as a hint of sadness. 

 

He had been too disoriented to seriously ask what was going on, what had happened, or anything of that sort.

 

The point was, she was always there. Every single time. She was the first one he saw, those icy blue eyes being a warm paradise from near-death experiences each time. 

 

He supposes that it’s because of the rush and bustle of everything now, the fact that Voltron managed to save the Earth with Atlas, with his promotion, with everything, that he doesn’t get much time to talk to her. Hell, he doesn’t even see her. 

 

He doesn’t get to see any of the paladins, really. He’s so busy with trying to honor those who fell, to try to make things normal again, that it’s almost as if he’s a separate entity for the rest of them. 

 

He does miss them, of course, Sometimes, he shoots longing looks to where Black lies, glistening in the sunlight. He still has his bond with her, but, it seems as though Keith is the Black Paladin now. And he’s okay with that, he supposes, but, he can’t help but feel as though his true position isn’t with the Atlas. 

 

On the off chance he does see Allura, she’s at the helm of the Atlas, her hands curved around the poles that remind him so much of the Castle. But she’s focused on her work, and he’s not one to stop any progress. 

 

He does manage to get some time in with the other paladins, though. Keith and him visit the memorial for those who fell in the War, Shiro taking some time at the plaque where Adam’s name is engraved, Keith silently playing his respects to whoever of his choosing. 

 

He manages not to get hit by Mama McClain’s chancla, (who still looks at him from time to time as if she’s seriously reconsidering it), and make amends with Lance’s family for dragging their son off to space. (He largely suspects that the dislike the woman shows is purely a show, because the pan dulce he found sitting on top of his blankets proves him right). 

 

He spends time with Matt and Pidge, attending family dinners like he used to with Sam and Colleen. Of course, that brings a sense of normalcy back, but of course, now everyone has crazy stories to tell. 

 

He even manages to squeeze in time with Hunk and Coran in the kitchens, watching in amusement at the various exchanges of culinary recipes. Of course, he’s mandated as a taste-tester, and he starts to regret that by the time Hunk force feeds him a bowl of something that looks positively ghastly. 

 

By the end of the week, things start to relax. He has time to fully grieve. He doesn’t need to do as many press conferences.Of course, he feels as though there’s something missing, but he can’t exactly place his finger on what. 

 

It all falls into place when Keith turns up at his door, looking nervous and completely unlike himself. His brother is holding the black paladin’s helmet, something that Shiro hasn’t worn in so long, due to his new commander role. 

 

The brothers don’t really need to talk much. When they do talk, it’s usually for some pep-talk or some old-man wisdom as Keith liked to call it, but that’s about it. Most of the time, like right now, they communicate just fine with simple looks. 

 

“I’m stepping down. And—I’m offering you the spot of the black paladin. If—-you’ll have it. I know that you’re the leader of the Atlas and everything-“ Keith seems to fumble with the words, but it is completely genuine. 

 

“That doesn’t make sense. Where are you going to go?” Shiro asks, titling his head. It’s not like he doesn’t want to jump back at the opportunity go back to his rightful place, but he needs to make sure that he isn’t shoving anyone out of their position. 

 

“Back to the Red Lion.” Keith answers simply. 

 

“And Lance?” 

 

“Back to Blue.”

 

So…that meant all the paladins would be going back to their respective lions. But there was someone missing. Who—?

 

“What about Allura?” Shiro asks, the puzzle piece in his mind snapping into place.

 

The look Keith gives him is strange, filled with confusion. It’s also a sort of pitying look, and it makes Shiro uncomfortable, as if Keith knows something about the Altean that he doesn’t. 

 

“Shiro—Allura left Earth four days ago.” Keith says. 

 

He gets the story from Keith, about how she had put up a fight, stating that for once, she was going to actually find her people and unite them, that for once she would do something for the Alteans, that for once, she wouldn’t worry about Earth. Keith also filled him in on the fact that Lance’s straying eyes had been part of the problem as well.

 

And sure, that was good and all, but Allura had left, with no mention of when she was coming back or if she was coming back at all. The only person who she had told was Coran, who was currently neck deep in engineering some technology at the moment.

 

And sure, Shiro knows that he shouldn’t be so….worried, that she would come back, but he can’t help but regret that he didn’t do a lot of things. He didn’t say thank you for all the times that she had saved him from death’s clutches, he didn’t even visit her in the hospital ward. And it made sense that she sought out a refuge away from Earth. 

 

He wishes she had told him, though.

 

The months tick by slowly, and it’s as if Earth seems to be holding its breath, waiting for another alien invasion. Voltron is whole again, and Shiro feels perfect at Black’s helm once more. It’s what he was meant to do. 

 

Meanwhile, as the only Altean (aside from Romelle) one Earth with engineering experience, Coran was more than happy to take up the role of Altas’ commander. 

 

Things seemed to be going well. But of course, a part of that lingering emptiness inside him might have had something to do with a missing princess.

 

Well, she wasn’t exactly missing. Just…gone, for a while. 

 

He sits in Black when he wants to think, and the lion seems to appreciate his company. Of course, she doesn’t mind weighing in on his thoughts now and then. 

 

His thoughts are always about the Altean, the one he can’t seem to shake off. Black expresses affection when he thinks about the Princess, and huffs when he dwells on the fact that she’s gone. 

 

He’s sleeping in his bed when he hears alarms blaring, and it takes him back to the time when Coran and Allura woke them up for drills. But, he knows very well that he’s no longer in the Castle, and that this is not a drill. 

 

The alarms are just a signal to let everyone know that there’s something unidentified entering atmo. Shiro rushes to stand next to Sam and the others, eyes wide and watching the screen. Luckily for him, the paladins are at the ready, if needed. 

 

It’s one lone figure, and Sam’s just about to order the ballistae to swing around and fire at the figure, when the figure takes off their helmet and long, shimmering white hair falls to her waist. 

 

“No!” The paladins cry out, the first to recognize her—and they’re already lunging for the doorway to the hangars, ready to come and meet her, when the figure crumples on screen. 

 

“She’s hurt!” Someone screams, and Shiro doesn’t even have to ask, they’re all sprinting to their respective lions and making their way to their fallen princess. 

 

He’s the one to scoop her up in her arms, he’s the one to see that her face is white, gaunt, as if the life has been sucked out of it, and from there it’s a rush to make sure that she’s okay. 

 

 

This is the **_last_** time he’s letting go. 

 

~

 

When she’s going into the medical pod, he is the **_last_** thing she sees. 

 

Warm, steady eyes that she hasn’t seen in a while, gray, swirling, like a storm. There is a myriad of emotions contained in their depths, and it’s been so long that she’s melted into them. There was a time where she was afraid to look into their depths, but now she’s looking into them defiantly, as if she’s a rebellious teenager. 

 

But it isn’t long before her eyelids close once more, inky blackness shrouding her vision before she’s completely out, the ichor seeping from her side. 

 

When she wakes up, she isn’t surprised to see dark, intense eyes staring right back at her. She isn’t surprised to see his hand automatically extended out to her, and it surprises neither of them with the fact that she automatically fits her hand into his. 

 

It does surprise her, however, that he yanks her up, into his arms, where he carries her down the hallway. He brushes aside any questions or protests, and seems hellbent on getting her to her room. She wants to complain, wants to say that she can walk by herself, thank you very much, but in all honesty, the medical pod did little for her emotional health, and she doubts she could lift a spoon. So she stays silent and leans her head against his shoulder. 

 

She’s already half-asleep when he sets her down, but as she curls up in his bed, through her already closing eyes, she can see him standing at the door, a silent sentinel against anyone who dares threaten her sleep. 

 

Turns out he’s a protector for her as well. When she wakes up in a cold sweat, he’s immediately there, and they don’t speak, they don’t exchange words at all, but he’s there, he’s there, and that’s enough to encourage her to close her eyes and drift back asleep again, this time to the sound of his heart as a lullaby. 

 

When she wakes up, he is not there, but she knows where he will be. She tiredly makes her way out to the control center, where the high ranking officials and the paladins are gathered. 

 

She stands at the head of the room, telling her story, of how she reached the apparent planet of Alteans—and found it razed and destroyed, and the Galran magic was so powerful that it sapped her of her own quintessence. 

 

She says this all calmly, but she can feel very angry gray eyes boring into the side of the skull. She pays it no mind. 

 

When the superiors have questioned her to their hearts’ content, she tries in vain to slip away to her own quarters, where she hopes to mourn the revelation and sleep in peace, but a hand wraps around her wrist, and guides her to an isolated hall. 

 

“You didn’t tell me.” He says, and his tone is smooth, not cold, not filled with hatred or anything of that sort. She scoffs internally at herself, what right does he have to be upset at her?

 

“You were busy.” She shoots back, matching him tone for tone.

 

“I could have made time.” 

 

“You didn’t come see me.”

 

And there it is, the crux of the matter. She’s hurt, possibly because she spent hours upon hours glancing at the door, waiting for her fellow commander to come pay her a visit. Or maybe it’s because she felt slighted, that as soon as she got demoted to being a solider, she was no longer a person of importance. Or maybe it’s because she expected that since he was back, he would be the same Shiro he was—the one he used to be. 

 

Her hurt shines in her eyes, like fractured crystals, and she can see his eyes widen as the emotion registers in his mind, but by the time he’s calling out her name, she’s already running down the hallway, away from him. 

 

They play this game of keep away, professional greetings when surrounded by others, silence when only the two of them, and it wears at them both. Of course, the pain alleviates when Allura sees her circlet, now repaired with a new stone, with the note of ‘Thanks’ in scribbly handwriting she knows. 

 

It’s hard to break habits, though. She finds him in the break room, late at night, staring up at something that only he can see. She remembers nights like this, back on the Castleship, where they would simply sit next to one another and that would be enough for the night. 

 

Something compels her to sink down next to him, her body stretching out flat, mimicking his position. It’s so quiet that she can hear his heartbeat, and it remains that way until he breaks the silence. 

 

“Can you see it?” He asks softly. 

 

“Yes.” She whispers. 

 

Both of their eyes are closed. 

 

They both lay there, eyes closed and listening to the other’s steady breathing, until his hand reaches and curls around hers. His hand feels warm, soft, steady, and it’s a silent acknowledgement that he’s never letting go. And there’s no need for words in that moment, the simple sweep of his thumb across the back of her hand conveys his thanks, his worry, his apologies. 

 

Her answer is to lace their fingers, and to forgive him with a squeeze. 

 

And they fall back into their normal routine. They meet, at night, when neither of them can sleep. Their eyes meet in the middle of meetings, as if there’s a conversation that only the two of them are privy to. And at night, when Shiro is left alone to his own thoughts, the door slides open and she curls next to him. 

 

Of course, they keep their space, each night they claim a side to themselves, and stick pillows between them for good measure, but to no avail. When they wake up in the morning, his arms are around her, and she’s tucked into his chest. 

 

She’s the one in charge of the Atlas now, and she works on developing it. And while her crewmates may not notice it, the bottom left corner of one of her screens has a feed from the Black Lion itself, (which may be the cause of why she snickers from time to time). 

 

Their relationship isn’t a relationship just yet, but the lines get blurred one night when Allura stands up and whispers to him that she’s going to bed early, and leaves after dragging her lips across his cheek. 

 

(That move left him so flustered that he had to cough for a full five minutes before following her, red as ever.)

 

Nothing was clearly defined, of course, but she knew that although Shiro’s eyes flashed at her in warning when she volunteered to go on a dangerous expedition, he would always drag her out to a hallway and sternly press a kiss to her forehead. 

 

He became a constant in her life, and as much as she needed him, he needed her. 

 

They didn’t show much affection in front of others, not wanting to make a big deal out of whatever they were doing, but when they were alone, it was like it came out of a fairytale. 

 

Of course, they aren’t as slick as they expect everyone to be. 

 

Some cadets report that they’ve seen the Commander cradle the Princess lovingly in his arms while she makes late night coffees. Other officers swear that they’ve seen the Princess wriggle up to plant kisses along his jaw. 

 

Allura and Shiro know about these rumors, and find it amusing, that after all this time, it’s still not confirmed. 

 

And they’re fine with that. When they’re alone, (or somewhat alone), that is their time to be as affectionate and as loving as they desire. And no one can steal that feeling away from them. 

 

They’re lying in bed after a night of intense workouts in bed, fingers gliding across sweaty skin, when Allura reaches up and gently tilts his head down to hers. 

 

She can’t manage to say it quite yet, but she wants him to know. 

 

He knows her well enough to read her expression, and he presses a soft kiss to her nose, nodding. He knows, he knows what she’s trying to tell him. 

 

And as she pulls him down to her for another soft kiss, she realizes, that he will be the only one she ever sees **_first_**. 

**Author's Note:**

> AaAAH?
> 
> Idk I hate this, smh. Not my best work, but it's there!
> 
> Leave a comment, tell me what you thought!
> 
> Drop a kudos!
> 
> Catch me on tumblr: @chai-and-coffee


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